27 Jan, 2020

Hindley Street slows down to increase safety

The City of Adelaide will tomorrow implement the planned 30 km/h speed limit trial for Hindley Street between King William Street and Morphett Street to make the street safer for all users.

Last year Council supported this initiative along with other short-term improvement options as part of the Hindley Street Improvement Project.

Hindley Street (between King William and Morphett Streets) is the city’s only 24-hour street. By day, it links major precincts/destinations to one another and serves Central Business District workers, students, tourists and visitors to the area. By night, it becomes Adelaide’s premier late-night entertainment street with up to 35,000 people visiting the street each Friday and Saturday night.

Traffic volume and speed assessments were recently undertaken at two locations near each end of the street. Average speeds were measured as 20km/h at the eastern end and 27km/h at the western end of the street.

This section of Hindley Street has a narrow roadway with wide footpaths and kerbline extensions, contributing to the slow speed environment which exists in the street. In addition, there are high levels of pedestrians crossing at multiple (formal and non-formal) locations along the length of the street.

A formal 30km/h speed limit will complement the current layout and the 30km/h speed limit on Hindley Street west of Morphett Street, which services the high levels of pedestrian activity associated with the University of SA City West campus.

Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said that Council wants Hindley Street to remain vibrant and safe, and traffic-calming measures, improving lighting and greening will help achieve this.

“We have been seeing an increase in pedestrians in Hindley Street and the connecting laneways, and reducing the speed limit is a way to make the street even safer,” said the Lord Mayor.

“Hindley Street West has had a 30km/h speed limit in place since April 2015 and has resulted in a safer environment for everyone.

“We thank the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure for supporting the move and we’re sure it will achieve the goal of providing a safer speed for pedestrians and cyclists to mix with vehicular traffic.”

Hindley Street will be monitored for a 6-month period with the assistance of SAPOL and traffic speeds will be remeasured mid-year to determine the impact of the reduced speed limit on driver behaviour. The signage will be installed on 28 January. Temporary signage alerting drivers to the change in speed limit will also be installed.

Matthew Halliwell